WEB DESK
Dhaka has urged Beijing to designate hospitals in Kunming for the Bangladeshi patients’ treatment. Bangladesh also proposed establishing a specialized tertiary-level Chinese hospital in Dhaka. The discussion in this regard took place on Tuesday during the bilateral talks held between Bangladesh Foreign Adviser Touhid Hossain and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing, said a press release from Bangladesh Foreign Ministry. The Adviser is on a 5-day state visit to China. According to Bangladeshi medical tourism experts, Kunming can become a good alternative to Chennai in case of prolonged medical visa constraints for Bangladeshi patients. Kunming city of China in Yunnan province is just 2 hours and 20 minutes by air flight from Dhaka while a popular Indian healthcare destination for Bangladeshi patients Chennai to Dhaka direct flight takes 2 hours 50 minutes. Domestically, Bangladesh is facing supply-side constraints for the tertiary-level health facilities in the country. Before August 5 last year, Indian Medical Visa facilities were very easy for Bangladeshi patients and Bangladeshi patients were very comfortable with the affordable and hassle-free health treatment in Hospitals of Chennai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and other cities in India. But amid the diplomatic tensions between the two countries, India is currently issuing medical visas to Bangladeshis for critical cases only. This situation leads Bangladeshi Nationals to search for alternatives to Indian health facilities. Bangladesh is also exploring other options for tertiary-level health facilities in Thailand and Malaysia for its middle class and lower middle class for whom Singaporean healthcare facilities are too costly, according to the experts in the field.